


To You, 100 Years From Now

by tutter_1



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: (because it's just the concepts of Your Name), Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Kimi No Na Wa/Your Name, Angst with a Happy Ending, I promise, Kravitz doing IPRE things, M/M, also included: Taako doing reaper stuff, body swapping, but the stuff before the canon is not, in which canon itself is similar, kind of?
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-18
Updated: 2020-11-19
Packaged: 2021-02-23 11:40:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,063
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23710924
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tutter_1/pseuds/tutter_1
Summary: One day, Kravtiz wakes knowing that everything is wrong. The world feels too solid, too alive.He realizes very quickly that this is not his body, his life, his name. He learns of a group, the IPRE. Learns that whoever this is has a sister who loves him very much, and that they cheat death every year trying to save the worlds they live on.One day, Taako wakes up like he's floating. He learns that he's not him, that some goddess wants him to help the dead pass on in some other world. He's used to other worlds. He's way too fine with this. He still thinks he's dreaming until the next day, when he sees words on his notebook in handwriting that is completely foreign to him: "Who are you?"
Relationships: Kravitz/Taako (The Adventure Zone)
Comments: 6
Kudos: 32





	1. Prologue - Alone

**Author's Note:**

> this is my first time actually posting to AO3 like ever? :') so that's why this is so short/more a teaser than an actual chapter. I want to commit to this, and posting will help with that, and also I wanted to test how posting worked without basically shitposting and immediately deleting it.
> 
> (also titles are so hARD how do y'all do it!)
> 
> (PS this was once called To Every World, Just Once, but it's been bugging me that that name won't be accurate. it would be really weird if they swapped 100 times, and the timeline would be a little wonkier, trust me!)

Kravitz was visiting the Material Plane when he saw the meteor. For him, going there was usually for business. There’s always some soul for him to collect, and never enough time to just take a breather. But this evening his visit was for pleasure. He got a rare day off, and took advantage, choosing to take a simple walk through a network of streets, wherever in the world. For once, he would be away from the Raven Queen (as much as he loved her) and all the souls. For a few hours, he decided it would just be him and solid ground, a feeling that was worth its weight in gold.

At least, he thought it was a meteor. Glowing a hot white against the inky night, it looked enough like a falling star that he wouldn’t question his judgement. If anything, he managed to forget about this wonder of the material plane until years later, when he was forced to remember everything.

But for the moment, he stared, and the people nearby did, too. It was a very pretty little anomaly, and everything stopped for a moment to give it room to exist. At first everyone had their faces straight up, looking to the sky, then following it with their entire heads as it dipped below the horizon line and disappeared. Life returned to normal, and Kravitz eventually ended his stroll and returned to the Astral Plane, saying hello to the Raven Queen as he arrived, and returned to work as if he never left.

* * *

In another world, a ship of seven takes off from a planet of two suns, looking for something like discovery. This is a big deal for the future of this planet, and everyone knows it. People who heard about the launch visit, cry tears of wonder and awe and perhaps even sadness as they watch them talk about the process of it all.

It is these seven who notice their world’s destruction as they take off. They go faster, letting the fog swallow everything, getting out just in time to survive - to witness.

The only thing everybody on the ground sees is the ship taking off, a blindingly white streak in the sky, a falling star that got it all wrong. They barely have time to fear, and then the seven are on their own.


	2. The Days

It was the start of Cycle Five. The seven are starting to get used to the way that this works, as they land just in time to see the Light of Creation follow in their footsteps. Seeing it is a good start. It means that they can look for it, and maybe save this world, whatever it is.

The elves are up last, usual for this early in their quest. They both walk down the hall with the effortless grace that is in their blood and bones, mixed with the half asleep hunger that is Taako and Lup in their morning journey to breakfast.

“Morning!” Magnus had a smile on his face as he waved to the two. He always had a smile. Taako knew that there were things that had to annoy him, but he couldn’t figure it out. Not that anyone would try. Sometimes, when faced with a nightmare of a shadow-beast that literally eats worlds like the plate of toast that sits on the table in the ship’s frankly impressive kitchen, you let the happy one smile.

“Are you excited to see the new world?” asked Davenport, a forkful of egg threatening to fall to the plate below.

“Not sure if we have a choice, Cap, but sure.” Taako was already at the table, reaching for breakfast. Lup went straight to the coffee machine. Everyone knew that the twins did amazing work, in spite of any eccentricities, but they were not morning people.

Taako really was excited, though. He was excited for the discovery, and the journey to find the Light, and the people that they might meet. He was just tired and bad at expressing his emotions. It didn’t help that they already had five years together, but they all still felt like… business partners. He wasn’t expecting them to fantasy kumbaya around a fire on an unknown planet or whatever, but it was still awkward when everybody was in a room together. Eyes never totally met, and he could tell this feeling was universal between everyone but him and Lup. Well, that came with surviving awful things together for years and also literally being twins. Maybe this new survival attempt would do something, like the world’s worst team-building exercise.

“Well, the Light fell roughly north-east from here.” Barry brought everybody back to the task at hand, and Taako appreciated it. He really didn’t want to think about what might come when they leave the ship. He was excited, but in the way a mouse was when it left the hole in the wall. _What a world!_ Also, _what now?_

“Yes,” said Lucretia. “I’m pretty sure the Light fell in a forested area. I saw it land from my window.” She had toast in one hand, a book in the other, lowered into her lap, closed over a finger to mark the place. She barely spoke, and always carried around her notebook. Lup told him once that she saw her reach into her pack, sort through multiple books, and replace her journal with an empty one, ready to continue writing. He was just impressed that she carried her pack of books all day, managed to keep everything recorded, _and_ deal with everyone else, at all once. He wouldn’t be able to. He didn’t think anyone would be able to. But yet, she did.

After a lot of stalling and even more coffee, they finally decided to just go out and explore. What else could they do?

* * *

Kravitz’s days had a tendency to clump together. He was a guide, a Grim Reaper? A soul, so old that their Common still had the accented sharpness that years sanded down, called him a _psychopomp_ once, and he liked that word. Some of the angry ones call him a guard dog for a Raven, and he supposed he can see where they’re coming from, but that makes his work sound aggressive.

He _tried_ to be guiding. At his best he was gentle with whatever soul he was working with, and comforting if the soul had fight in it. At worst he was mechanical, automatic, and didn’t see the souls for individuals. If he had to fight those that broke the rules, he did it. It was just work.

He was standing at the mouth of a cave. Some explorers tried to go through to find some treasure. They were stopped pretty quickly. One of them, the _only_ one, it seemed, sat on the grass, back to the rock, hugging her knees. Today was a mechanical one, and he barely glanced at her as he entered. It wasn’t like she could see him anyway.

He could tell he had gotten close enough when he could sense the blood. The bodies were actually in the next room, but he never needed to go that close, thank the Queen. He pressed a button at his palm and a staff extended for his fingers to close around. A raven ornament looked like it was about to fly away from here, but he knew it never could. He always liked the staff that came with the job. The bird was a nice touch.

Holding it out at arm’s length, he sent a burst of magic through to any souls in the vicinity. Gentle, like a child padding to a parent’s room in the middle of the night, they walk to him. At least, it feels like walking. It’s actually a weird mix of actual motion on the part of the soul, floating, and some magic. He’s basically turned himself into a giant soul magnet, a grounding space where they would all want to go. It’s a harnessing of necromancy. Not that he liked necromancers on principal, but their spells can come in handy.

When he was sure they had all arrived, he took a moment to look at them. Nothing out of the ordinary, just the bluish humanoid glow. Very little features come through here. He wouldn’t be able to tell what color their hair or eyes were, and they rarely talk when they’re like this, fresh and recently gone.

He waved his hand effortlessly and they all turned to smoke, seemingly dissolving into the stuffy cave air. His Queen will take care of them from there. He heard a roar from the other side as he turned to walk away. Someone else could handle that.

It was only on the incline back to the sun and sky that he remembered the survivor, snapped back to his senses after being in Work Mode for so long. He stopped for a moment. He could hear her heavy, mourning breaths and sobs, and was sure that she was still sitting the same way as before, hugging her knees like a vice grip, not looking at anything in particular. He was wondering what he could do. He didn’t want to be both the ferryman for those deaths and also try to console the only living one here. He felt he couldn’t, and he didn’t totally know why. Should he appear mysterious? Make himself known and casually walk out? Pretend he just got there and only appear to her once he got further away? Say nothing and slink out just as he came? It felt like an eternity passed, completely stuck in a cave of the dead and a monster, with a crying girl outside.

In the end he pressed the button again, activating the staff. He went outside. It felt unnaturally quiet, and she was so loud in all of it. He picked a flower, transmuted it into the prettiest one he could manage (he didn’t do things to the living very often), made it appear in full bloom, almost artificial in colour, and placed it next to her. He summoned a light gust of wind to get her attention, and left as she inspected it. He hung out with goddess too much to believe in omens most times, but he hoped she saw it as one. He hoped she pressed it, or put it in water, or found any way to make it last. He hoped it would give her something.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1) I am a bit happier with the Kravitz half than the Taako half this time. I kind of wanted to have the early introduction of the daily life of the seven be in the POV of Kravitz, and so cutting it off where I did would have to happen. Plus more interaction will happen in time!  
> 2) I am not a lore machine for Balance, but I'm pretty sure they never say Kravitz's class? it would make sense if he could do magic anyway, considering his work. but also I know nothing about D&D spells, and idk if people actually look for that in fics any way.  
> 3) yes I basically made Kravitz's staff a stage magician's cane I regret nothing


	3. The First (Taako)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ~hello I return with Reaper Taako!~
> 
> For context, school and the general dysfunction of life in the year 2020 happened. I started this chapter in September, blinked, and it was November. Sorry about that!
> 
> Taako is also super hard to write how do people do it! There're multiple bits of dialogue I rewrote multiple times so he could be not just in character, but also less experienced and pre canon. Like, balancing how smart he actually is, both in a direct sense and emotionally, before the end of the century.

Taako woke feeling too lightheaded for his taste. He wondered what was wrong, didn’t even want to try to get up and face everyone while feeling this floaty. He forced himself up anyway, reached around for too long looking for a light switch (it was far too dark!) and finally realized that his head wasn’t the only thing that was off.

The first thing he noticed (other than that this was not his bedroom), was that it was shockingly neat. If by neat he meant completely empty. Save for two things on a wooden desk in the corner and a wardrobe, there was nothing in the room that wasn’t designed for sleeping.

He walked over to the desk, still feeling dreamy, and found a notebook, a pen clipped to the front. He reached for the book, and only then did he notice that his hands were not his.

What a confusing thing to be faced with: waking in a room that isn’t yours, only to learn that you are not yours either

His immediate guess was a weird prank from one of the crew. Somehow. A lot of transfiguration, even more breaking into his and Lup’s room. Even though he's the one in charge of transfiguration. An instinct rang in his head. Something was wrong.

Whoever’s room this was had no mirrors, so he just sighed because _nothing can be easy_ and reached for the book. The whole thing was a very simple list of names. Some had more detail, like a location, or a date. Most didn’t. _This, he thought, does not help me in the slightest_.

Finally he just decided to go out. Get some breakfast, talk to _anyone_. Not that he was hungry. The door was less a door and more a void that you open. _Fitting for the Spartan goth_ , he thought.

The whole house seemed to be on brand. This room was spacious, shadowy, and _empty_ , save for a giant ornate chair (throne?) in the center. At least, he assumed it was ornate. He could see it, but like a negative, the space around it was more defined. It wasn’t like anything he’d seen before, and he could tell it was something magic, but the horrifying kind that he didn’t think anybody could truly comprehend.

A strange voice greeted him. Strange, like it was a stranger’s voice, but also physically strange to hear. Coarse and sweet, neither high nor low. Like the chair he was sure belonged to them, he could not comprehend anything about them for just long enough that he was sure he was dreaming, and that he desperately wanted to wake up.

And then suddenly things clicked into place. The figure became shorter (but still very tall), the voice sweeter, and he could finally see her. Dressed in a black feathercloak, he went from hopelessly confused to suddenly very aware that he was in the presence of a literal god.

He froze, unsure of what this meant, unsure if he should show formality. Not that he wanted to, but his life was already stressful, he did _not_ need an angry death god at his heels when he knew he should be dead multiple times over. He settled on a bow, trying to hide any awkward pauses in the movement.

_Wait_ , he thought, his mind whirling. _That’s absolutely why I’m here! The people downstairs finally got ahold of what we were doing and are gonna punish everyone._ He expected a chill to run down his back, but none came.

Instead, he heard her laughing softly. “Why the formality all of a sudden, Kravitz?”

He was back to being confused. Was this just a trick? Did she like playing tricks? He thought of his sister, not for the first time that day, and found it odd to compare her to someone like this. He guessed he had to play along.

Standing, he carefully said, “no reason.” and tried not to freak out all over again when he heard this body’s voice.

“Well you have some assignments for today, so you should probably get ready.” she gestured to his clothes, showing that he was still wearing pajamas that he didn’t even think to notice.

“Oh. Well, I’m not really feeling well today, I don't think I'll be up for any assignments.” he threw in a cough for bonus points.

“Do you really think I’d buy that shit for a second?” she glared, only half joking, and he froze.

“Okay, fine.” he said, trying to sound calm. “What’re the assignments?”

“Well, the regular reaping souls stuff, the usual. It’s more where. Your spot today is a small town off Neverwinter. Mostly grandparents, but also three illnesses, and a single death in a mining operation. Just show up as soon after they die as possible. Even before, if you can. I’ll give you the list now.”

She walked off while he was still processing the word _reaping_ , and everything that it involved. Unless it was even worse than he thought, like she was having him dig his own grave or something, he probably wasn’t there to be punished. She thought he was someone else, and at that point, he wasn’t too sure himself. Not that he had any choice anyway, but aside from the death stuff, this wasn’t that bad of a deal. He could explore, take a breather away from the crew, and maybe a bunch of other things he just couldn’t think of. This was brand new, and after five years and counting doing his job, this was a nice change of pace, if a slightly horrifying one.

Oddly enough, the more he thought about it, the more fine he was with being a reaper. He felt his confidence return.

He returned to the bedroom to get dressed, trying to not think about everything, and by the time he came back the god was standing there, holding a sheet of parchment.

“Here’re your assignments. It’s a pretty straightforward day, really.”

“Before I go though, quick question: how do I… get out of here?”

She looked at him with a very ungodly expression. “Again? I thought you had it down by now.”

“What can I say, my memory’s like a goldfish.”

She gave him a slight look before pointing out one of many doorways on the other side of the room, then the magic on his glove that could bring him back. It was less an explanation than a reciting of something long memorized.

He did as she told him, and found himself in a small town. Nobody noticed him, which he supposed made sense. Who notices death?

Referring to the list, he quickly saw the first house he had to visit. The only problem was that he didn’t actually know how to do any reaping. This wasn’t exactly his specialty. He looked at his glove, noticed a button above the one the god pointed out, and pressed it, grimacing away as if it were about to explode.

A staff unfolded in his hand. Long and ornate and topped with a bird, it was thematically appropriate, anyway.

He still didn’t know what to do, but at least he had something to do it with! He walked to the house, where a family of gnomes were gathered around a bed. Some were quietly dabbing eyes, while some were in hysterics. Taako looked over them, seeing an old gnome lying still.

In the corner, there was a blue outline of a gnome, and he knew this was what he was looking for. He walked to him and, unsure again, tried to focus in the way he would if we were casting any other spell, ending in tapping the figure gently yet dramatically with the staff. Strangely enough it worked, and the soul disappeared. Part of him swore it smiled a little with a mouth he knew it did not have.

He left carefully, even though he knew it didn’t matter.

*

After the second old age death, he was more comfortable with the work. It was like any other magic, just with a different purpose. The questions of why and how this even happened never left his mind, but it wasn’t like he was going to find any answers in this unknown world.

It was the mining accident, the last one of the day, that was very different. He didn’t need to wander to find the mine, he heard it, followed by a group of worried townsfolk clamoring to see what had happened. He only needed to follow the locals.

He was aware that this could be the first more gruesome death. Before this, he was thinking about a collapsed mine, a single death, a public tragedy. Just one, but still sad, still hard to see, and he couldn't not think about it. He neared the mine’s collar.

By this time, he had died and come back more often than he’d personally prefer (the number he'd prefer, for the record, was _zero_ ). Everyone had. He could tell his crewmates had gotten used to the idea of death, especially when it just doesn’t stick for long. Taako, though, tried to make sure any death still felt like something. He talked about this with Lup sometimes, because what else but a long term space mission that nobody signed up for would cause discussions of impending mortality?

Put simply, he was aware of what he was getting into.

And get into it he did. A gap was cleared where the miners that survived would walk up to the sunshine, meeting loved ones with tears in their eyes. He was able to slip by easily, going further underground until he couldn’t hear the conversations of couples and family. He didn’t like the underground. It made his skin crawl. Too damp, too stuffy.

Finally he found the wreck, a heap of rock where it very clearly should not be. A cave-in. He also found the spirit right away. He was pretty sure it was of a human, and more clearly defined than the first few (or, at least, Taako could slightly see the features of his face), and sitting down against the pile of rocks his body was under like it was a tree. He looked up and, to the surprise of Taako, actually spoke.

“Guess you’re that one everyone goes on about?” He had an accent that, like the world itself, Taako couldn’t place.

He sat down next to the ghost, not wanting to take out the staff yet just in case he’d run off and suddenly he’d have a goose-chase on his hands. He figured he’d do what he did best: talk.

“Well at least you were patient! I had one a few days ago that argued I should’ve come sooner.” A total lie, obviously, but it’s not like he’d ever see the dude again.

“No place I’m in a hurry to get to, anyway,” He sighed, getting up lazily, stretching and rubbing at barely visible eyes.

Still seated, Takko was suddenly hit with a burst of curiosity over the man he was talking to. “Is there anyone waiting up there for ya?” He asked.

“Not really. I had plenty of people who knew me, and I’m sure they would miss me, but I don’t got anyone specific, no.”

Taako sighed. “What’s your name?”

“How in the hell did you find me if you don’t got my name?”

“Just play along, for gods’ sake!”

“Arthur. Arthur Rainore”

“Well,” Taako stood, half dramatically, pressing the button at his glove at the same time. He held the staff straight, somewhat between them. “Arthur, I know I am literally here because you’re dead, and being friends with the Grim Reaper is probably a super weird thing for a dead person to claim, but that offer is absolutely free for the taking.”

There was a pause, during which Taako questioned literally every life decision that led to this moment of cringey emotional reassurance to a dead stranger he was never going to see again. Water hit the stone, breaking the silence.

But the spirit smiled a little, gently touched the raven statue between them, and turned into a ball of light before fading away.

Taako went home. He didn’t open the notebook again, but he left the slip of parchment with the assigned names on the desk before going to sleep.

*

The next morning, he woke up on the Starblaster. Confused, he wrote everything off as a really vivid dream until he finally realized that he’d skipped an entire day. Lup was up before him, so he caught up with her during lunch to figure out what had happened.

“Yesterday was so weird! I have no idea who you were but you weren’t you, I could tell that much. I think you must’ve hit your head or _something_ , dude. Would explain how you don’t remember a second of it either.”

“Yeah, I don’t have a clue what happened. I was having weird dreams last night, though.”

“You _absolutely_ hit your head somewhere. I’ll give you this loop to keep acting this way, but if you’re like it next year, something’s super wrong and I’m taking you to someone to see what’s happening in that noggin of yours. We might be in a desert with nobody else on it and I’ll _still_ find someone.”

He laughed, sure that it was a one off thing, never to happen again. No more goddess of death, no more reaping, no more not being himself.

That night, he went to his and Lup’s room, opened his journal, and found chaos.

An introduction marked the top of the page. His name was Kravitz, which Taako immediately remembered from that dream. He worked for the Raven Queen as a reaper, which also worked out. A summary of the previous day’s work followed, and then finally, at the very bottom of the page, large so he would notice it:

_“Who are you?”_


End file.
